Section 12: Attendance of civilian witnesses before visiting forces' service courts

(1) Where any person not subject to the service law of Nigeria is required as a witness for the purpose of proceedings before a service court of any visiting forces of a country to which this section applies, the following provisions of this section shall apply, and he shall not be liable to attend before that court unless summoned in accordance with those provisions.
(2) If an application for the issue of a summons under this section in respect of such a person is made to a magistrate's court by-
(a) the authority by whom the service court was convened; or
(b) the member of the visiting force appointed to preside at the service court; or
(c) some other member of that force designated for the purposes of this section by the member appointed to preside as aforesaid, the magistrate's court, if satisfied that the person in question is likely to give material evidence in any proceedings before the service court, may issue a summons requiring him to attend, at a time and place mentioned therein, before the service court (to be sufficiently described therein) to give evidence in those proceedings and to take with him any specified documents or things and any other documents or things in his possession or power or under his control which relate to any matter in issue in those proceedings.
(3) Any person who attends a service court in pursuance of a summons under this section shall be entitled to receive the like expenses as if he were attending a court-martial in pursuance of a notice under section 145 of the Armed Forces Act.
(4) Section 146 (1) of the Armed Forces Act (which relates to offences by civilians in relation to courts-martial) shall within Nigeria apply in relation to a service court of any visiting force of a country to which this section applies as it applies in relation to a court- martial, subject to the following modifications, that is to say-
(a) the reference to a person subject to military law under that Act shall be construed as a reference to a person subject to the service law of Nigeria; and
(b) the reference in paragraph (c) to a document in a person's custody or under his control which a court-martial has lawfully required him to produce shall be construed as a reference to such a document which a magistrate's court has lawfully required him to produce in pursuance of this section.
(5) For the purposes of this section, a certificate issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a country stating, as regards a service court of any visiting force of that country, the authority by whom that court was convened or that a member of that force named in the certificate has been appointed to preside at that court, or has been designated for the purposes of this section by a person so appointed, shall in any proceedings on an application for the issue of a summons under this section be conclusive evidence of the facts stated therein.
(6) The provisions of this section are without prejudice to the powers conferred by section 10 of this Act.